Almost every amusement ride of the type in which riders are seated in a normal position on seats is provided with a lap bar assembly, including a cross bar, hinged at one end and designed to be latched with the cross bar extedning across the seat and spaced a substantial distance from the rider. Though an unpadded lap bar is acceptable for some rides, e.g. ferris wheels, a wide spacing between the bar and rider can lead to injury when the rider is propelled against the bar upon a sudden stop of a car, such as a bumper car, in which the rider is seated. Heretofore some lap bars have been provided with padded covers or rollers but these have been symmetrically mounted on the lap bars and do not take into account the wide variations in size of riders whereby a slight person can still be propelled against the padding over a relatively wide distance with sufficient force to cause injury.